Status Report

This is wicked cool :thumbsup:

 

That's goodnews, Ted. Don't make it much grandeur or else, I won't be able to move on in life.

 

Sounds very cool. What does the Ox do during combat though? Does it kick at enemies like the mule from the first Dungeon Siege

 

Can we have a screenshot of the box turtel? I'm incredibly curiousss of what it looks like...

Hw can we abuse the mule?

 

I'm very interested in how languages are implemented as I don't recall ever seeing that implemented in a graph before. I don't remember encountering it in the demo but that was years ago. In any event, I eagerly await the imminent release of the keep on the borderlands.

 

As for its "imminent" release, my guess would be that the KotB full module won't be released for a minimum of at least a few months. The Circle of Eight team are working feverishly on finishing/perfecting it.

If you would like to read the KotB Players Guide - Full.doc while you are waiting for the KotB full module to be released, then you can download it from the attached file below.

This is what the Players Guide document states about languages:

Speak Language: The Speak Language skill, sidestepped in the Demo, is now fully implemented. It is a class skill for all classes except Barbarian (who suffer the shortcoming of illiteracy, inasmuch as learning a new language without the aid of writing is twice as difficult). The skill works as follows:

Each race is assumed to speak its various racial languages
Other modifiers are taken into account as necessary (ie Wizards always know Draconic, etc)
Additional languages are then automatically assigned to the character according to their ranks in the skill, taking into account the Int bonus
The ‘progression’ by which new languages are assigned is static and follows the path shown, which has been devised according to frequency (ie it is assumed you learn Goblin before you learn Gnoll, because more critters speak the former).
o Elvish
o Goblin
o Orc
o Gnoll
o Giant
o Draconic
o Sylvan
o Outsider

Note that Elvish is the only demi-human language mentioned because all other demi-humans encountered on the Borderlands speak Common (as do many of the monsters). Also note that Elves speak all languages in the game. Finally (as a meta-gaming moment: SPOILER ALERT!) note that the Spider Queen communicates in Sylvan.

To make it clear how the additional languages are assigned to races, the following table explains everything. ‘A’ means automatic (a racial language) while a number in the box indicates how many ranks would normally be needed to know the language:

Code:

		Elvish	Goblin	Orc	Gnoll	Giant	Draconic Sylvan	Outsider	   
Elf		A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	   
Dwarf		x	A	A	1	A	2	3	4	   
Half-Elf      	A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	   
Halfling      	A	A	A	1	2	3	4	5	   
Gnome		A	A	A	1	A	A	2	3	   
Half-Orc     	1	A	A	A	A	A	2	A	   
Human		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8

 

Huzzah! Just finished 8.0.1 (which was fantastic), and this news is the nuts, whip cream, and cherry on top!
:thumbsup:

 

April is gonna be awesome,, new Game of Thrones season and KoTB release

 

Awesome news!
What's the expected level range for the whole thing (i.e. what level might a party expect to be at the end)?

 

Not to rain on Nightcannon's parade because I am interested in the answer myself, but I hope that Ted and the development focus on balance, challenge, and depth of content instead of allowing us to level to 10 or higher just so we can have high level characters in the game. The original module was for first level players (but so was T1) but I don't know how much content there was/is.

 

I completed an "evil" playthrough with an adventuring party that consisted of 5 characters, and all of the characters in my party finished the alpha version of the game at level 6. For me, the highlight of the "evil" playthrough was an epic combat against

Spoiler

elite oriental caravan guards

. On one occasion, I recommend that you do an "evil" playthrough just for that combat alone.

I suspect that a "good" playthrough will result in the characters in your party finishing the game at a slightly higher level because there is a lot more combat in a "good" playthrough.

Keep in mind that The Keep on the Borderlands module is still in the alpha phase of development, which means that more content will be added in the final version of the full release. For one thing, the 2 orc caves at the

Spoiler

Caves of Chaos

have not been implemented in the module yet (the caves have, but the orcs haven't). This means that when all of the content has been added to the final version of the module, your characters will probably be able to finish the game at an even higher level.

Be warned, masterwork weapons and magical weapons are rare in the game, so plan your party accordingly. Don't be disappointed if your fighter or barbarian can't find a decent magical melee weapon to use until halfway through the game (or maybe even near the end of the game). That's just the way that the module is designed, so you'll just have to live with it.